Budget for a baby shower gift within your means.
Gift etiquette works better as a percentage of what you can spare than as a fixed number. This anchors the gift to your monthly disposable income, scales it by how close you are to the parents, then splits it across everyone chipping in and adds the card and wrapping you will actually buy. The share-of-income figure is the reality check: a gift that eats a large slice of the money you have left over is too big, however generous it feels.
Baby shower gift budget
Suggested gift = monthly disposable income x closeness factor; your share = suggested gift / contributors + card and wrapping
Anchor it to your own budget rather than a rumoured average. A gift worth roughly 5% of one month's disposable income suits a friend; close friends and immediate family sit nearer 8-12%.
Yes — the gift value stays where etiquette expects it, but your outlay is the value divided by the number of contributors plus your own card and wrapping.
Many people do, and the range shown here (plus or minus 25%) gives you room for that without overshooting your budget.